


Xanadu

by The_Word_Arranger



Category: Starfighter (Comic)
Genre: Alpha Encke, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, April Starfighter Fic/Art Challenge, M/M, Omega Keeler, People Being Awesome, People Being Jerks, Please Send Help, Sexism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-26 13:55:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3853144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Word_Arranger/pseuds/The_Word_Arranger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a fire destroys the Sleipnir's supply of Alpha and Omega suppressants, the crew has to reconfigure themselves and their ideas of how they fit together. They are accustomed to being divided as Fighters and Navigators, but now the dividing lines have been redrawn and the rules are different.</p>
<p>***Updated to reflect changes between the Eclipse Beta and final versions. Coughshipassignmentscough and a few other minor edits.***</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was really excited when I saw the April Starfighter Fic/Art Challenge because I haven’t written anything in a while (cough a year cough) and I wanted to get back into that. I checked out the prompts, saw the A/B/O one and immediately said, “well, obviously not that one.” So then I had to write that one because a) challenge and b) reasons.
> 
> My premise in writing this is that the A/B/O dynamics are a relatively recent addition to society, maybe five generations. Maybe it is natural evolution. Maybe it is a mutation from too much space travel or cosmic rays hitting an Earth with an ever decreasing ozone layer. Maybe all the genetic manipulations on Earth are an effort to breed them in or maybe to breed them out. Whatever the case, history has proven that we will always fear what we cannot understand, and if the people of the Starfighter century are still so comfortable marginalizing others for things like race and social class, you can bet that they will be comfortable discriminating against a new gender of males who can give birth.
> 
> In other words: here, have some social commentary with your hot sex.
> 
> This is not beta-ed (haha) and this is a genre that I am not terribly familiar with. All mistakes mea culpa, and constructive criticism is encouraged.
> 
> The title is based on the poem “Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
> 
> All love to HamletMachine!

They were all so screwed. Figuratively, literally, every-which-way; they were all just so screwed.

The ironic part was that they had just won the war. The Sleipnir had made it all the way to the Baten Kaitos System and destroyed the Colteron ship yard. There had been death and death defying flights, explosions and something very weird going on with the Reliant that nobody would talk about, and in the end they had won. The Sleipnir hadn’t even taken that much damage beyond superficial scorch marks and two well contained hull breaches. Her shields were very strong, and there was more damage from everything and everyone being thrown violently around in the wake of enemy blasts than from the actual blasts themselves. There were some fried electrical relays and some engine damage that was limiting their speed to about 75% of capacity. The deck with the rec room had a glitch that caused spontaneous fluctuations in the artificial gravity and made basketball a whole new sport. They should have been fine, hell they should have been celebrating, but there had been a fire in one of the medical storage lockers and now they were all so screwed.

The Colteron had surrendered, they were on their way back to Earth victorious, and they would be very lucky to all make it back in the same pieces they started in.

***

“I’m confused,” admitted Ganymede. “I’ve never heard of these suppressants. What do they suppress? What’s the big deal if they got destroyed?” 

Keeler heaved an enormous internal sigh that didn’t show on the outside one bit and looked around the briefing room at his Navigators. Some looked as bored or confused as Ganymede, some looked smug, some embarrassed and some downright terrified. If he allowed himself to project anything but cool competence, he would be leaning towards severely annoyed. He wasn’t prepared to deal with giving this briefing anymore than he was prepared to deal with the consequences of the fire. He gritted his teeth and cleared his throat before addressing his assembled men.

“The Federated Alliance operates on a military chain of command. In order to maintain discipline and order, the Alliance has taken steps to insure that their ranks and designations are the only ones that carry any weight. There is no space for any other hierarchy, including the Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics, and so all non-Beta personnel are required to take pheromone and heat suppressants.”

He was not turning pink; he was absolutely not going to blush in front of his men, this was just biology, just the facts of life.

“We do not have the luxury of dealing with such things on the front lines of a war. Unfortunately, with the ship’s entire stock of suppressants destroyed we have only a few days before the Alphas and Omegas begin expressing their natural pheromones and start cycling. With our engines compromised, we have at least six weeks before we can rendezvous with another ship or station. I think even Betas like Ganymede here can see the problem inherent in this situation.” 

Ganymede gasped at the jibe from his normally compassionate superior officer and looked down at his feet embarrassed. Keeler allowed himself an unprofessional moment of smug satisfaction at putting him down. Really, the boy wasn’t nearly beautiful enough for his task name, but he thought he was and let it go to his head. Keeler reigned himself in; that was just the hormones talking, assessing potential threats or competition for his mate, and dear God he wasn’t even bonded yet, brain please just stop. He clenched his fist, driving his fingernails into his palms and reaching for calm that came kicking and screaming. He tapped his tablet to call up the new orders that had just come down from Central Command, their solution to this impending debacle.

“In the aftermath of this accident and in an attempt to circumvent unfortunate biological urges,” he heard Phobos snort and had to agree even if he hated him, “the ship’s personnel will be divided into Alphas and Omegas with Betas allowed their choice of association. Alphas and Alpha associated Betas will report to Lieutenant Encke and will restrict themselves to decks eleven through thirty with headquarters on deck thirty in the Fighter’s training room.”

Keeler swallowed and forced his hands and voice to steadiness as he let slip this part of himself, this secret that he had kept so successfully for so long. 

“Omegas and Omega associated Betas will report to Lieutenant Keeler and will restrict themselves to decks two through ten with headquarters on deck two in the primary Navigational lab. Only Betas will be allowed on deck one until further notice. All personnel are required to wear a designation tag at all times indicating their category. These restrictions will be enforced promptly at 2400 hours tonight. You have until then to collect your belongings and report to your new HQ for berth reassignments. Are there any questions?”

Phobos, arrogant Alpha to the core that he was, spoke up nastily, “You mean we’ve all been taking orders from an Omega?” 

All the eyes in the room swiveled from Phobos back to Keeler. Well, he did ask the question that was on everyone’s minds, even if he had absolutely no tact about it. 

“Yes. I am an Omega,” Keeler knew he was being snide but couldn’t resist adding, “but you have never been particularly good at following orders, mine or anyone else’s. I suggest you work on that before you report to Lieutenant Encke with the rest of the Alphas.”

Phobos turned a gratifying shade of grey as he realized that even though he was a fairly impressive Alpha by normal standards, he was an absolute pipsqueak compared to Encke and the vast majority of the other Fighters. Some of them were bound to be Alphas and the rest there would be Betas that didn’t care much about his rank. Porthos, his hulking Omega shadow who had fists that they did respect, wouldn’t be around to save him when he needed it. Phobos almost swallowed his tongue in fear, and resolved in a most uncharacteristic fashion to keep his mouth shut and his head down for the foreseeable future. Keeler suppressed a little smirk as he watched all of these realizations play over Phobos’ face. 

“Any other questions?” Keeler’s tone was cutting and if any of the Navigators had questions, they wisely decided to keep them to themselves. “No? Dismissed then.” He turned on his heel and didn’t quite flee.

*** 

Keeler got back to the small room he shared with Encke and briefly lost the battle to not beat his head against the wall. This was so bad on so many levels. This crew thought they knew each other, knew how they all worked together, and now biology was wrecking havoc on the social dynamics with everyone reassessing everyone else. It could get so much worse too: Omegas going into heat and distracting anyone who could notice and Alphas going into rut in response and chasing everything on two legs. Omegas winding up pregnant… He beat his head against the wall a few more times for good measure and then forced himself to start packing.

The forced segregation made sense. It was widely accepted that proximity to each other was what drove Alphas and Omegas into their cycles. There was no biological reason to put forth the energy and resources of a heat if there wasn’t someone around capable of taking advantage of it after all. The smell of an Alpha drove an Omega into their yearly heat cycle, the smell of an Omega in heat drove an Alpha into rut, and the whole thing drove Keeler up a wall. On Earth, there were a few exclusive, single designation, sometimes single gender communities, mostly for Omegas who refused to be cowed by their biology and an unforgiving society. No Alphas were allowed within ten miles, and scientists had verified that the heat cycles of the resident Omegas were few and far between. 

It also made sense to put the Alpha’s headquarters on the Fighter’s deck because Encke was an Alpha, just like it made sense to put the Omega’s headquarters in the Navigator’s lab because Keeler was an Omega. It made sense, but it stank of stigma and old fashioned stereotyping and all the bullshit that he and Encke had to deal with as Navigators and Fighters only multiplied by hundreds of years. 

He and Encke knew what they were and how they fit together. It wasn’t really a secret; the Alliance’s policy wasn’t the horrible ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ bullshit from the early 21st century that was based on nothing more than ignorance and fear of homosexuality. There were legitimate reasons to enforce the use of suppressants, and make all their soldiers into Betas for the duration of their service. Mostly, people didn’t talk about A/B/O dynamics but that wasn’t because they weren’t allowed to; it was because it was considered odd to be Alpha and downright shameful to be Omega. 

He and Encke hadn’t talked about it at first either, Encke out of a desire to not be even more intimidating than he already was, and Keeler out of a desire not to lose ground in the face of a man whose respect he had earned and wanted to keep. They had both pretended to be Betas and the suppressants made that easier, but Encke was a big man and he’d come back to their bunks late one evening after a hard work out, overdue for his pill and smelling of more than just sweat. Keeler had him pressed up against the closed door of their room with his nose in Encke’s neck before either of them realized what was going on. Keeler had no idea how long he’d stood there half hard and breathing Encke’s scent like a starving man, but when he’d finally came back to his senses, Encke had his massive arms curled around the small of his back and his face buried in Keeler’s hair. Looking up into Encke’s eyes in that moment had been one of the hardest things in his life and the realization he saw written there sank his heart to his feet. Encke had opened his mouth to speak and Keeler, panicked and starting to hyperventilate, had shoved him aside and bolted to hide in his office. Encke hadn’t followed him, hadn’t chased him and made him feel hunted, and when Keeler slunk miserably back to their bed several hours later, Encke had done nothing more than drape an arm around his waist and fall back asleep.

They had come to their friendship and later their intimacy as equal parties, and Encke was the best man and the best Alpha Keeler had ever known because he changed absolutely nothing between them over this new development. It made it so much easier for Keeler to accept what he was. Knowing that Encke didn’t expect him to be anything other than himself made him feel safe enough to actually be himself, just as assertive and socially dominant outside their bed, but more submissive and more open to what gave him pleasure in it. When they had both purposefully not taken their pills one night while out on shore leave, it had been Keeler’s idea and one of the best nights of his life. One missed dose wasn’t enough for him to slick up properly, wasn’t enough for Encke to knot him fully, but it was more than enough to give them both an idea of what it could be like, and what they could be to each other if they survived the war.

Really, Keeler’s greatest regret about this whole fiasco wasn’t the headache of overseeing a group of grumpy Omegas or even being outed himself, but the fact that they were about to be truly, fully themselves and he and Encke couldn’t be there for and with each other. 

He stared at his plastic name tag with ‘O’ printed on it in large red font before pinning it to his uniform, his own scarlet letter. Then he shouldered his bag and left.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All canon characters, including the fabulous new Eclipse debuts Helios and Selene, belong to HamletMachine.
> 
> Puck belongs to A2MOM and he frequently makes off with my imagination and leaves it somewhere dirty. His Fighter Oberon is also A2MOM’s creation.
> 
> Ganymede, Ilus, Vesta, Ceres, Letheo, Zephario, Luthe and Tor are my own brain farts and I have no excuse.
> 
> Ganymede is named for Jupiter’s largest moon and the beautiful Trojan boy who was abducted by Zeus and made immortal by him. I want to name his Fighter Ilus, after Ganymede’s brother because I like to imagine Encke yelling at Ilus to stop puking on the floor during PT. I am a dork like that.
> 
> Vesta is named for one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt and the Roman virgin goddess of home and hearth. It seems appropriate for an Omega. His Fighter Ceres is named for the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt that the Dawn spacecraft is currently sending us such beautiful pictures of and the Roman goddess of agriculture. Again, Omega appropriate. They can suffer their feminine task names together. (But they don’t actually mind.)
> 
> Letheo and his Fighter Zephario are named for characters from Clive Barker’s Abarat series.
> 
> Luthe and his Fighter Tor are named for characters from Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown. 
> 
> The what, exactly, exactly what, exactly! is based on a poem by Shel Silverstein called “The Meehoo with an Exactlywatt.” This poem changed my life.

Keeler made it almost all the way to the lift before he wanted to scream. Two Fighters were already standing there waiting, one with a blue ‘A’ pinned to his chest and the other with a blue ‘B’. The Alpha spotted him and his bright red ‘O’ coming down the hall, turned to his friend and said much louder than he needed to, “Hey, do you know why male Omegas have smaller feet than Alphas? So they can stand closer to the stove!” He and his friend laughed uproariously and then pointedly turned their backs to Keeler, refusing to acknowledge his presence beyond this demeaning, discourteous joke. 

Keeler stared down at his feet. They were not that small! He would shove his boot up this ridiculous Alpha’s ass and then see how he felt about his ‘small feet.’ He would … he would… he would pretend that he hadn’t heard that offensive comment, stare straight ahead and get in the lift when it came. It’s not like it was the first time he’d heard that supposed witticism, and it probably wouldn’t be the last, but it had been so nice while it lasted not to have to put up with such shit. It had been so nice to just be Lieutenant Keeler with all the authority and respect that position conferred, instead of an overly pretty male Omega with all of the authority and respect that position conferred, which was none.

The fact that he was a ranked officer and the lift was programmed to confer priority to his deck commands over these two rank and file Fighters was his small revenge of the moment. 

***

Keeler was honestly shocked by the number of people already milling around the primary Navigational lab when he got there at 2200. He had frankly expected only a small handful of people, mostly the required Omegas, to be there but there were so many more people than that accounted for and it was still early. He took a moment to survey the room and was gratified to see just how many of those assembled had a red ‘B’ pinned to their uniforms. It made him relax a little from where he was knotted, shut up brain, so tightly inside, and when he came forward to greet them his smile was more genuine than he had anticipated.

Puck was there with his impish smile and red ‘B’ and he hugged Keeler in front of everyone because he had both no sense of what was appropriate and a keen understanding of when people needed comfort. Puck’s Fighter Oberon was also there because he and Puck were attached at the hip despite their significant size difference, and no one was ever going to argue with the giant Haitian. Ethos and Ganymede were also there with their red ‘B’s, and Keeler made a mental note to apologize to Ganymede later for embarrassing him because good leaders admitted to their mistakes. 

There weren’t nearly as many red ‘B’ Fighters as Navigators but Keeler wasn’t surprised. He figured that many Betas without strong feelings on the matter would stay with their original Fighter or Navigator group; things would be changing enough as it was. However, there were still quite a few red ‘B’ Fighters there to show support and flip the metaphorical middle finger at the establishment. Keeler was a fan of that. 

Then there were the Omegas. Keeler knew who most of them were already, at least among the Navigators. Abel was there with a small smile and Porthos was there with a huge scowl. His babies would not be cute. Sweet little Vesta looked as though he would be hiding under the table if not for his Omega Fighter’s comforting embrace. Letheo was sitting with his legs crossed one over the other and picking gunk from under his nails with a terribly unimpressed look on his face. Luthe wasn’t there yet. 

There were only three Omega Fighters: Vesta’s Fighter Ceres, Deimos, and Helios. As unforgiving as some of the Navigators could be of Omegas, Keeler supposed it would be much worse in the Fighter culture. Ceres and Vesta had each other, Deimos had Cain’s protection and a knife, and Helios had his Alpha Selene who could smile so sweetly while tearing you apart.

By 2400, there were fifty-six people in the lab; nine Omegas and forty-seven Betas. That was almost a fourth of the ship’s crew that wasn’t assigned to deck one, and more than ten times what Keeler had expected. Sometimes, it felt good to be wrong about people.

***

Keeler finally fell into bed at 0200, exhausted but unable to sleep. It hadn’t taken very long to hand out room assignments. Really, there were so few of them that they only had to double up if they wanted to. Keeler desperately wanted to be alone and after selecting a room whose only requirement was that it did not share a wall, floor or ceiling with Puck and Oberon’s room, he took a long shower and tried to catch some shut eye. Unfortunately, sleep was AWOL.

The room was wrong, a mirror image of the one he was used to and he hoped fervently that he wouldn’t walk into the wall if he got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He was cold and uncomfortable without Encke’s warm bulk to sprawl over, and there was a pipe running somewhere through the wall next to his bed that had a lot to say for itself. 

He flopped over onto his back and groaned. He wanted to go to sleep. He wanted his biology to knock it the fuck off. He wanted to spend this time celebrating the end of the war and let his hair down for the first time in what felt like years. He wanted his lover next to him so that they could have hot messy sex, and then plan their future now that there wasn’t such a high probability that one or the other or both of them would die a horrible death at any moment.

He hadn’t even seen Encke since shortly after the Colteron surrender was announced. The entire crew had just been dismissed from the formal briefing when the CMO came running up to Commanders Cook and Bering with a panicked look and singed eyebrows. There had been a very short meeting between the three of them, a frantic search through the supply inventory, a longer meeting that included him and Encke, and then they had been sent on their separate ways to deal with the stupidly enormous fall out of a stupidly small fire. They hadn’t even had a moment to themselves to share a victory kiss.

Keeler pouted, untangled himself from his sheets, and grabbed his tablet. 

“Encke, are you awake?” He sent his message off and would deny on his deathbed checking the screen every five seconds until Encke replied.

-“Yeah baby. Just finished getting everyone put away. God there are so many loud mouths down here. What a fucking day. You ok?”-

“Yes.”

“Sort of.”

“Maybe.”

“I don’t know. I miss you. How are you?” 

-“ Tired and kinda out of fucks to give. Missing you too. Not how I pictured our victory night.”-

“Ooh, you had a plan? How did you imagine tonight?” 

-“Together, for a start. With fucks to give. Shower, bed, up against a wall…”-

Keeler sighed at the waste of it all.

“That sounds nice. Rain check?” 

-“You bet.”-

“How are my Navigators doing down there?”

-“Phobos may be dead by morning. I’ve got Selene in here with me but if he doesn’t stop giggling ‘bout Helios in his sleep he’s gonna wake up in the hallway.”-

“ :( ” 

-“I know, I know. I’ll keep your Alpha Navies safe for you. The rest of them Beta ones stupid enough to walk away from you are on their own. Just know that I would much rather be keeping you safe with me…Except that I suppose I am what I’d have to keep you safe from? Whateverthefuck.”-

“Exactly.”

-“Exactly what?”-

“Whateverthefuck. Dork. I love you Encke.”

-“Love you too Keeler.”-

***

Keeler gasped awake from an intensely erotic dream involving Encke’s promise of up against a wall to find his cock still hard and his thighs a little damp with slick. He moaned in arousal and annoyance before stripping down and going to finish himself off in the shower. It wouldn’t suck any less, suck any more? don’t think about sucking brain, but it would at least be easier to clean up his mess afterwards. Always having to use lube when he and Encke wanted penetrative sex was an annoying extra step, but they had to do it that way because the suppressants shut down the glands that produced his natural slick. They were not shut down anymore by the look of things, and without Encke around and his sex life on hold he was probably doomed to more nights with dirty dreams and dirty sheets.

Fuck it. Tonight, he was sleeping on a towel.

***

Keeler was sitting at a table in their makeshift dining hall reading an update to the engine repair timetable when Luthe and Letheo walked in. Letheo dropped himself into the chair across from Keeler with absolutely zero grace. “Fork over the chow.”

Luthe rolled his eyes and sat much more delicately in the chair to Keeler’s left. 

Keeler waved a hand over at the buffet table set up in the corner. “Help yourself.”

Letheo pushed his chair back with a screech and went over to investigate congealed scrambled egg substitute, cold toast and lumpy oatmeal. “What the fuck is this shit? How come the stupid Alphas get the dining hall and we're stuck here playing picnic?”

Luthe poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the table and raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Letheo. “Use your brain for something besides cooling your blood Letheo. There are three times as many people in the Alpha camp. We can make do like this much better than they can.” His soft British accent was mellow and Keeler always found it soothing to listen to him. 

“They can starve. Or eat each other. Ooohh! I’d pay to see that.” Letheo’s Australian Outback twang would have been pleasant if it hadn’t been as loud and grating as the sound of him throwing himself back into his seat. Everything about Letheo was dirty to varying degrees. His hair was dirty blond and his skin had an unattractive artificial tan in the exact shade of brown that Keeler had only ever achieved after backpacking for two weeks without a shower. His language was filthy, his habits and manners were disgusting and his mind was an unmentionable lost cause. Keeler privately thought that his Beta Fighter Zephario, whom Keeler actually liked and respected, had chosen to join the Alpha camp just to get away from Letheo and feel clean for a while.

Luthe ignored him with practiced ease and turned to Keeler. “Good morning, sir." 

Keeler envied Luthe his ability to withstand Letheo’s brash nature so early in the morning, but he was not willing to put in the many hours on shared practice rotation that yielded the result. If he hadn’t been an officer, he would have had to. Their names were close enough in the alphabet to be on the same rotation. He drank more coffee and pulled on a smile.

“Good Morning Luthe, Letheo. What are your plans for today?” 

“Well, I thought first I’d eat this disgusting crap, spend some time poking fun at Vesta’s virgin ass, maybe tell the Betas a few horror stories…”

Luthe’s snort interrupted a rant that Keeler was pretty sure no one ever needed to hear. “Vesta and Ceres have been flight partners for nearly two years and they are clearly smitten with each other. I very much doubt that either of them are still virgins.”

“Yeah, well, “Letheo slurped his coffee and leered lasciviously over the rim of his mug at the two of them, “Vesta is such a baby that he still ain’t had a heat or even been with an Alpha. At least the three of us at this table can admit that’s what really counts, right? It’s not really sex if it ain’t the whole shebang.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way Letheo,” Keeler said coldly. He really was too; so much of what he shared with Encke that was good had nothing to do with them being Alpha and Omega or even with sex at all.

“Really? God you might as well be a boring Beta. Whatever. I’m fucking out of here.” Letheo chucked his dirty dishes in the collection bin and left in a bad temper that was par for the course.

Luthe sighed. “It is good that he is so accepting of who he is, but I do sometimes wish that he wasn’t such an absolute arsehole about it.”

“Full marks Luthe. And what are your plans for today? Something better than Letheo’s I hope.” Keeler turned slightly to regard him. If Keeler was pretty, Encke was handsome and Abel was cute, then Luthe was somewhere in between. Androgynous was probably the best word. He had nice, even features, pale skin, pale short hair and dark green eyes that betrayed concern as Luthe looked at him. 

“Checking up on you to begin with. You seemed very…off balance at the Navigator’s briefing yesterday evening.” Luthe always chose his words with care and Keeler admired that in him.

“Was it that obvious?” Luthe tilted his head sympathetically and Keeler winced. “I was upset. I’ve kept it a secret for so long, not from you or the other Omegas, but from everyone else. Well, not Encke. I felt like I always had to do everything perfectly in case the truth ever got out. I can’t be weak because people will hold me as a standard of my gender.” Keeler looked down and fiddled with his coffee cup. “I was right too. Some of them clearly don’t think I am capable of holding a command even after serving under me for months.”

“I suppose the burden is heavier for you,” Luthe said thoughtfully. “Very few people care if Letheo or Vesta or I are Omega. Our good and bad are not measured so severely because we are of less consequence, but you must be beyond reproach.”

Keeler shook his head at that. “I didn’t mean it like that Luthe. We’re in the same boat; I didn’t mean to imply that it isn’t difficult for you too.”

Luthe smiled. “I know you didn’t Keeler. But it doesn’t make what I said less true. Leaders are always judged more harshly than followers and that is why you are to be respected. But if it is Phobos that is troubling you, then I would not worry. Alpha or not, his good favor is not something I imagine you covet.” He made a face. “I certainly don’t. Instead, I focus on my Alpha and on the good men who have chosen to stand with us. Clearly, there are many here who do believe in your abilities no matter what lies society tells them about us.”

Keeler remembered the forty-seven Betas who chose to report to him last night. It was a much nicer image than Phobos’ sneering face. “You are a wise man Luthe. What is your secret?”

Luthe huffed out a small laugh at that. “Well, I am a third generation male Omega, I was raised in a pragmatic household.” He shrugged one shoulder. “The truth, I suspect, is that I well and truly do not give a flying fuck for other people’s problems with me. I have enough of my own, why should I care for theirs?”

Keeler shook his head in admiration. “Tor is a lucky man to have you.”

“I believe the same can be said for Encke. Now, shall we go rescue Letheo before Vesta and Ceres kill him?”

***


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This brief interlude makes me think that while I enjoy writing lots of words about semi-serious stuff, I will always be best at short cracky pieces; preferably ones that make Encke’s life miserable.
> 
> I realized while writing this and the next chapter that I was spelling Abel’s name Able because spelling is so not my thing. I told the computer to find and replace Able with Abel, and it produced such helpful things as: tAbel, tAbelt, capAbel, uncomftorAbel, stAbel, probAbel, and cAbels. So helpful.

Day Seven:

Keeler lay listlessly upside down on a couch in the Omega camp’s converted common room. He was bored out of his mind but he would take bored over the excitement of the last few days when he had actually been out of his mind. Apparently, four or five days was all it took for every Omega in their camp to work the last of the suppressants out of their systems. It had been very obvious to Keeler going in why it was not a good idea to keep the Alphas and Omegas together, but it had also quickly become clear that housing a pile of simultaneously re-expressing Omegas together was not the greatest choice either. All nine of them were out of practice dealing with this aspect of their biology; their pheromones were fully expressing and pissing each other off, they were horny and cranky as shit, and the petty competiveness had escalated to epic levels. It had gotten so bad yesterday at breakfast arguing about how coffee made your skin dry and unattractive that Puck had demanded Time Out. Apparently the day Porthos told Keeler he had better skin was the day Keeler lost his shit and threw strawberry yogurt in his hair, and that was definitely Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer. Keeler vaguely recognized that Puck, as a Beta, was probably capable of making more rational decisions than he was at the moment, and as the second highest ranking ship member not assigned to deck one, he was now nominally in charge. It was a frightening thought.

They had all been told to retreat to their corners and were to think about “behaving like grown men, not teenage girls” or something. Keeler wasn’t entirely clear on that. He hadn’t been entirely clear on a lot of things for the last few days, but now the fog was finally starting to lift and he was mortified. On the one hand, he now had so many more people to apologize to than just Ganymede. On the other hand, most of them had behaved just as badly so at least he wasn’t alone. He had spent some time wondering why there were no notes in any of the Alpha or Omega medical files warning about the side effects of coming down off the suppressants before he figured it out. The Alliance had never been able to confirm or deny if the Colteron were hacking their data and they didn’t want to hand them their victory. Keeler could see the headlines: “Colteron destroy 100mg synthetic pills, win war by default in resulting chaos.” He snorted.

So bored now was good, and bored also sounded better than what Encke was dealing with, which was idiots zero-g fighting in the rec room and a death threat from Selene. The rec room was on deck fifteen and Encke had been encouraging his camp to spend a lot of time there despite the faulty artificial gravity because the gym and the sims were not big enough to keep so much of the crew simultaneously occupied. He needed everyone occupied because unoccupied Fighters were bad news and unoccupied Alphas were bad news and twenty-six unoccupied Alpha Fighters coming down off their suppressants were the only necessary ingredient in a surefire recipe for disaster. To start with, they’d completely broken the artificial gravity in the rec room and now no one could bounce a basketball, unless it was off another person’s face. Phobos and Selene weren’t helping either. 

Encke wasn’t entirely stable himself, but he had more self control than most and a very vivid mental image of what Keeler would do to him if Phobos or, more importantly, Selene got hurt. Phobos had done something intelligent for once in his life and retreated to the safety of the handful of Beta Navigators camping out with the Alphas. Encke decided that they all deserved each other for making his Keeler feel bad and kind of on purpose accidentally forgot about them. Selene though was either too stupid, unlikely, or too crazed out of his mind coming off his own suppressants, probable, to retreat or shut up or even just hold still and stay out of the way. Encke had locked him in their shared room in a fit of desperation and then actually forgot about him in his own daze of stupidity. It was not his best day, it was almost his last day and now he wouldn’t sleep in the same room with Selene unless Artemis, trusty Beta, was there as a witness. It was getting pretty crowded in there. 

***


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah Puck, my favorite instrument of mayhem.
> 
> Do we actually know the name of Encke and Keeler’s ship? The Starfighter Eclipse Beta revealed a lot of names but theirs wasn’t one of them. Since I don’t know, I shall do as all fan fiction authors do and make it up to suit my purposes. In this story, their ship is called Xanadu.
> 
> 1996 PW is the actual name of an asteroid in the Oort Cloud. You can read about it on Wikipedia by searching for Oort Cloud. It is a fairly short article, but it will blow your mind.
> 
> Also, I am not a technically savvy person and I have no idea how to write a chapter like this. If you have any suggestions on how to improve it, please leave them in the comments section.

Day Nineteen:

Keeler walked into the secondary Navigational lab or SecNavLab at 1400 to find Ethos sitting on one of the workstations surrounded by so many wires and cables that it looked like he had been ground zero for a spaghetti bomb. SecNavLab had been damaged pretty badly when one of the Colteron’s energy weapons hit too close and caused an overload in the power hub and data relays. It wasn’t too much of a problem because PriNavLab was working fine and all of the workstations in here were redundant. They wouldn’t have bothered to fix them, but Puck had taken it into his head to hook all the stations together so that everyone could play the MMORPG Galaxy Mission. His reasoning was fairly straightforward: a) he was bored, b) everyone else was bored, c) they still had twenty-three days until they rendezvoused with Starbase Six and d) nothing could make time disappear like Galaxy Mission. He claimed to have once lost two weeks of his life playing it. 

“Hi Keeler,” Ethos smiled brightly as Keeler made his way over. He was sorting and replacing damaged cables and then feeding them one at a time down the back of the workstation so that Abel could plug them in to the power grid. Abel knelt under the workstation with his head down and his ass in the air trying to reach the connections. Keeler took a moment to appreciate the view. He and Abel might both be Omega, both have Alphas and were probably not compatible personality wise anyways, but a fine ass was a fine ass.

No one would have noticed his rather unprofessional admiring of his junior’s backside before he went off the suppressants, but now the tinge of arousal in his scent gave him away. Abel looked back over his shoulder and cocked an eyebrow. “Hello Keeler.” He echoed Ethos’ greeting and went back to plugging in wires with more wiggling than was strictly necessary. Keeler smelled Abel’s scent spike and raised an internal eyebrow. Was Abel flirting with him? They’d flirted before, but Keeler had forgotten how much scent changed things. Well, they were both out of habit managing themselves and there was no harm in practicing on each other. Actually, Keeler thought that Abel might not have had much practice to begin with; the story out of the mess hall rumor mill was that Cain had been his first and they were both on suppressants by then.

Fortunately, Ethos was oblivious to all the sub-context wafting around the room.

Abel finished his wiring, replaced the access panel and crawled back out. “Okay Ethos, try turning it on now.” 

Ethos leaned over and pressed the button, and they both gave small cheers when the screen displayed the computer start up sequence. They moved on to the last workstation and eyed it skeptically. It was the closest one to the power hub and had therefore taken the most damage. Abel ran his hands over the cracked control panel and made a face. “I don’t know if this is salvageable.”

Ethos looked resigned. “We should at least try. Puck wants all of them up so we can have even teams.” He lowered his voice guiltily. “It’s kind of hard to say no to him.”

Keeler laughed a little at that. “I can tell him if you want me to. I have lots of practice telling him no.”

“We might as well take a look.” Abel pulled his gloves back on, crawled under the workstation and pulled off the access panel. He stuck his hand in to start pulling out the obviously damaged cables and all the lights in the lab flickered. 

“Umm. Should it be doing that?” Ethos asked.

“This whole section down here is fried. The power hub and the main data relay look kind of melted; I’m surprised they’re working. Let me just…” The lights flickered again. “Huh.” Abel tossed the burnt wires aside and dug deeper. “I am going to try bypassing this power hub all together. Oh, I’ll have to do the data relay too, it’s all tied together. Ethos can you hand me the…” He grabbed a set of cables from where Ethos was already helpfully feeding them down to him. “Thanks.” Abel plugged the new cables into the power grid and all the workstations in SecNavLab shut down.

“I thought we were fixing things?” Ethos sounded sad, probably picturing Puck’s disappointed face. Puck had powers that he didn’t always use for good.

“That’s normal, I should have warned you.” Abel sounded unconcerned as he crawled back out and dusted himself off. “We aren’t routing through PriNavLab anymore so all the systems are reinitializing. Just give it a minute and the terminals should come back online.” 

Sure enough, the primary workstation in the room quickly booted back up and the three of them went over to check it out. 

Ethos sat at the terminal and called up the basic navigational array program. They watched the computer display their projected course towards Starbase Six. “It seems to be working okay.” He spun the image around to better see a small blip near their flight path. “What’s this planet over here called?”

“What planet?” Keeler’s voice was sharp.

“This one.” Ethos magnified the screen.

Abel leaned over to check the designation. “1996 PW. Oh, that’s not a planet Ethos, it’s an asteroid. The Colteron have mining bases on some of them. Good source of silicates.”

Keeler frowned. “Is this workstation malfunctioning? How are you seeing so far out from the ship? We shouldn’t be anywhere near close enough to 1996 PW to have it show up on sensors. The Colteron told the Alliance to stay away from it because it still has active perimeter defense drones. No one has been out to deactivate them since the peace treaty was signed.”

Abel slid himself into the next chair and booted up the neighboring terminal. “I don’t think it’s a malfunction. I’m showing it on this one also, 56,000 kilometers ahead on the starboard side.” He pulled up the input from the primary workstation in PriNavLab down the hall. “But I’m showing nothing here.” He turned to Ethos and Keeler with a worried look on his face. “Everything in both labs and all of Central Command was running through those damaged power hubs and data relays. If we are just seeing this now that I cut them out of the loop, this could be accurate.” 

“That would put us massively off course.” Keeler leaned over Ethos’ shoulder and punched up the interface to connect him to deck one Central Command. “Get me Commander Cook,” he told the Navigator on the screen. “It’s an emergency.”

“I really hope we aren’t making a big deal over a crossed wire,” said Ethos.

Keeler looked at him sideways. “Better a big deal over nothing than dead.”

“Well, we will know soon enough.” Abel was checking the ship’s trajectory towards 1996 PW. “We are almost on top of it; anything that close to the ship will set off the proximity alarm.”

“Anything that close to the asteroid will set off its defense drones,” Keeler said grimly. Commander Cook appeared on the screen. “Sir, we have a prob…”

The proximity alarm went off. 

***

Keeler was sure there would be hours of questions and a long, thorough investigation later, but he’d managed to relay the cogent details to Commander Cook in an impressively short amount of time. Once Central Command had routed their sensor arrays through SecNavLab and seen the truth of things, it had only taken them moments to sound the red alert call to battle stations. 

Keeler almost collided with Luthe as he went running out of SecNavLab. Luthe immediately turned and matched his pace. “Is this a drill? I thought the war was over.”

“Not a drill.” Keeler bounced off the wall slightly as they rounded the corner and had to jump aside for Vesta and Ceres running the other way, already in their flight suits. “The sensors malfunctioned and we’re so far off course we’ve activated the defense drones for a Colteron mining base.” He skidded to a halt outside his door and then froze with his hand halfway to the access panel as realization hit him.

“Lieutenant Keeler?” Luthe looked over from palming open his own door one room to the left.

“We’re going to see the Alphas. I am going to be in the same small, enclosed space with Encke breathing recycled air. What if I can’t think? What if I can’t stay focused to fly and get us both killed?” It was always his worst fear that he wouldn’t be good enough, that he would freeze or fail in battle and kill the one person who meant more to him than anything. He didn’t know how he would survive the guilt and shame, how he would live knowing he had betrayed Encke’s trust. The knowledge that he probably wouldn’t have to, that he and Encke would most likely go down together if it came to that, didn’t make it any easier. 

Luthe took the few steps between them and gently grasped Keeler’s shoulder. “Keeler, sir, you will be all right. You are an excellent pilot with years of training, and a very self-controlled man with your head well on your shoulders. Do not let your fears or society’s lies about your nature blind you to your own strengths.”

Keeler looked down at his boots, a little embarrassed by his panicked outburst. He took a deep breath. “Thank you Luthe.” He stared into those calm green eyes. “You’re not nervous?”

Luthe walked back to his own door and placed his hand against the panel so it slid open for him. “Not anymore than is expected for going into a fire fight.” He paused. “If you are truly worried about sharing air with Encke, it helps to breathe through your mouth.” He spoke the next words softly, simultaneously reassuring them both and incanting talisman. “We will all of us be suitably under control to fly. If we chose to be less under control afterwards, well, that is our choice. I would advise against walking into supply closets.” He smiled crookedly at Keeler. “Fly safe.”

“Fly safe, Luthe.” Keeler returned the Navigator’s good luck maxim before entering his room and slipping into his flight suit. He got his helmet on and activated the internal com link that would connect him to Encke. 

“You online Keeler?” Encke’s voice came through true and comforting. 

“Online and ready to fly. Location?” Keeler grabbed his gloves and ran out the door.

“Deck fifteen heading down to the bay one.”

Keeler squeezed into the lift and gave Abel a grateful look for holding it those few seconds for him. “Meet you there. Deck fifteen? Checking out the zero-g?”

“Cleaning up after some jerks who thought it was a good idea to shake a coupla cans of beer and then open them.” His voice turned serious. “What’s going on?”

“The entire power and sensor relay system into the Navigational labs was compromised. We’ve gone off course into restricted space and activated a Colteron mining base’s defense drones.” Keeler ran out of the lift on deck thirty-one to find Encke already there and staring at him in disbelief.

“Off course? How come nobody noticed before?” They let their hands touch briefly, just a quick brush of gloved fingers all that they could spare in the face of disaster. Keeler’s smile was fleeting but genuine as he gazed up at the handsome face he had missed so much the last few weeks before they turned and ran together towards bay one.

“The systems didn’t report back as damaged during the ship’s self-diagnostic. We would have been caught completely off guard if Abel and Ethos hadn’t been repairing all the workstations for Puck.”

“What does Puck need with all the workstations?” Encke sounded wary, but that was because he knew Puck from having him in his office eight times a day trying to get him to sign stuff. He’d also caught Puck purposefully setting fire to Keeler’s desk among other things.

“He wants us to play Galaxy Mission. He probably saved all our lives.” Keeler sounded contemplative.

They ran in silence for a moment.

“We probably shouldn’t tell him that.” Keeler laughed at Encke’s solemn tone as they burst into the bay and made their way to Xanadu.

*** 

It was a short, dirty fight. The defense drones were small, agile and programmed to ruthlessly attack anything that came too close to the asteroid. Each one was about three feet in diameter, ran on a tiny nuclear battery and had lasers strong enough to put a small hole through the tempered glass cockpit of the Starfighters. They real threat was that, once damaged, they self destructed with enough force to put a really big hole through just about anything.

Keeler flew Xanadu out ahead of the formation, got on the radar of two of the defense drones and then peeled off sharply to get them to follow him away from the rest of the squad. Once at a safe distance, Encke put his superior marksmanship to work and took them both out with shots from Xanadu’s laser canons. Keeler thought that the explosions they made as they self-destructed were almost beautiful, in the same way that a poison dart frog or a tornado was beautiful, which was to say deadly and best viewed from a distance. He maneuvered the ship around and took a moment to proudly observe the rest of the troops following their example before diving back in to attract more drones. 

They were fortunate that the defense drones had not been designed with the capacity for learning or adaptive behavior. They predated the war and their primary function was actually to deter Colteron marauders, not stand against the highly trained forces of the Alliance. It wasn’t as difficult or as unpredictable as a normal fire fight, but the stakes were just as high.

Keeler brought the ship around for their third approach and had to swerve suddenly out of the way as Helios’ latest shot set off a domino effect of explosions that took out a dozen drones and almost took the port wing off Xanadu. “Edifice! Selene, pull farther out before you blow us all up!”

“Sorry, sorry! Our targeting array is out of alignment. Hold on Helios.” Selene slammed on the breaking thrusters and Edifice dropped back to regroup. Luthe and Tor flew close overhead in Sola and drew away the last drone dogging their retreat. Selene’s heartfelt thanks over the inter-ship com were drowned out by Phobos bitching at Deimos as they picked off their own drones in Equinox. The effectiveness of Deimos' usual counter to Phobos' attitude was diminished over the com because cutting silences were best delivered face to face. Deimos could cut you with anything, and his silence was as sharp as his favorite knife.They had not missed each other. 

It took just under ten minutes of brutal, beautifully choreographed fighting, and then there was nothing left to target. Keeler slumped back in his seat and wiped the sweat from his face as Letheo and Zephario sent the last drone to an explosive death. He listened with relief as all the Starfighters called out their status and began returning to the Sleipnir. There were bumps, bruises, burns, bloody noses and a few cracked ribs. Tiberius was helping to haul Edifice into bay seven for repairs after her targeting array had finally overloaded and then blown out the engines, but there were no fatalities and no damage to person or machine that couldn’t be fixed. Keeler bowed his head in gratitude; he didn’t think he could sign another killed in action condolence letter, especially not after the end of the war. 

So much for the good news. They’d destroyed the entire fleet of defense drones for an installation they weren’t invading belonging to a species they had just signed a peace treaty with. Keeler couldn’t bring himself to care; it was officially not his headache.

***


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the first A/B/O fics I read was a Starfighter one shot. It was by A2MOM, so it isn’t around anymore, but I think it was Praxis and Ethos. I don’t remember much about it, but I do remember reading it and loving it. I loved the unrestrained passion, the power dynamics and the dirty taboo- ness of it all. My brain hates me though, because instead of allowing me to fully enjoy the story for the delicious, beautifully written piece of filthy smut that it was, it kept asking stupid, practical questions like how the hell those dynamics would play out on a battleship during a war. The answer, brain shut up, is not well. Something that important and invasive couldn’t be ignored, so I had society squash it and hide it under a rug. Then I set the rug on fire and let my brain ask all the questions it wanted to. 12,000 words later…Are you happy now brain? Are you? Geez.
> 
> Apparently I have a lot to say about sexism and gender stereotypes. I thought a lot about how the role that women played in WW2 advanced equal rights for women, and tried to incorporate the same idea here. There is nothing like a war to bring into sharp relief how similar we all are, and how deserving of respect no matter our differences.
> 
> I guess this isn’t a typical A/B/O fic. I’m honestly a little embarrassed to have written it, but having done so, I’m sure not going to let my opinions sit on my hard drive.
> 
> The name I use for Encke is from asocialconstruct’s Basic series, I believe. I recommend it for interesting character development and high quality angst.

Commander Cook ordered them to stay back while the rest of the ships docked after the fire fight. The Alliance wasn’t supposed to be in this sector of space, but since they were they might as well take a look at whatever the Colteron had thought important enough to protect with that many drones. Keeler put Xanadu 5,000 meters out from the asteroid and started a full spectrum scan. Normally, he would be interested to see the information coming back, but right then he had other things on his mind. The fight had come out of nowhere, and fear, adrenaline and training left no room for his mind to wander. Luthe had been right. Now though, with the danger passed and the adrenaline fading, he noticed what he had overlooked before. 

He and Encke were crammed close in the cockpit of their ship, and while he couldn’t see him from his seat, he could smell him. Encke smelled of sweat, fear and stress and under it all, the heady scent of Alpha that Keeler remembered from shore leave over a year ago. He took a deep shuddering breath and let it out in a whoosh when it made him slightly lightheaded.

“You okay back there Keeler?” Encke’s voice was concerned over their private intercom.

Keeler paused for a moment. He could lie; blame it on nerves from battle or his seat harness digging too hard into his lungs like sometimes happened. He chose honesty instead.

“I’ll be okay, just a few bruises I think from throwing us around flying like that. It’s just,” he struggled to find the words before settling on the simplest ones. “You smell good.”

Encke chuckled softly, almost dangerously. “Yeah? You smell pretty damn good yourself Keeler.”

Keeler’s head reeled. Had Encke’s voice always been so deliciously deep, so full of bass? He knew his scent was spiking with arousal and he could smell Encke responding. 

“Gods baby. What are you doing over there? Wanna get my hands on you so bad right now.”

Keeler groaned. “Encke now is so not the time.” How long could it take to run a scan anyways? He felt himself perspiring in the close air of the cabin and reached down to loosen the collar of his flight suit. The moan Encke made as Keeler’s scent fully filled their cockpit warmed Keeler down to his toes. He laughed his own dark laugh, feeling sexy and powerful. “You okay up there Encke?” he asked mockingly.

“Minx.” It was almost a growl.

The computer beeped to indicate the end of the scan and Keeler reluctantly turned Xanadu back towards the Sleipnir. He didn’t want to land because as soon as they did he and Encke would have to part ways again; twenty-three more days, fewer actually given how off course they had gone, until they made Starbase Six and then back on suppressants until they were discharged. He would do anything to postpone their impending separation, to hang on to this stolen moment a little longer. His mind raced, creating scenarios and analyzing possibilities. Luthe and Tor could probably get away with a supply closet, but the moment he and Encke reappeared they would be called back to duty. A thought occurred to him. He would do anything and that included purposefully docking Xanadu in bay eight which was reserved for unsalvageable derelict ships instead of bay one where it belonged. He swung the ship around and made their new approach; no one stopped or challenged them. Keeler figured that Central Command had their hands pretty full or maybe they were purposefully looking the other way. He knew he was being bad and he could get in real trouble later, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. He felt a little breathless, a little overheated and his flight suit clung uncomfortably to him where he was half hard and beginning to go slick.

It wasn’t a heat, thank Mother. He’d had enough of them to know what that was like and this wasn’t it, but it was an acute longing, sharper and more pressing than his usual post battle need. He sighed in relief at the realization that they wouldn’t need protection. Of all the ways he could get into trouble for this, pregnant was just not one he was prepared to deal with. He loved Encke with all his heart and maybe later they could talk about the possibility of children, but not now. Now he desperately needed his lover hot, hard and naked, skin against his own burning skin with no distractions and no consequences. 

No. Not needed, but wanted. He remembered what Luthe said. He was not a slave to his biology, but he could choose to surrender to it. He made his choice.

He landed Xanadu and initiated the power down sequence. Keeler could hear Encke’s accelerated breathing as the roar of the engines slowly died away. He was a smart man; he knew what Keeler was doing. 

“Keeler?”

“Stay there for a moment.” Keeler checked the controls one last time to ensure everything had shut down correctly before he slipped free from his harness and unsealed the hatch. He hoisted himself out of his half of the cockpit, closed the hatch behind him and surveyed the bay. It was completely empty of personnel, only a few damaged ships scattered here and there. He smiled to himself. Perfect.

He reached down to knock on the hatch to Encke’s half of the cockpit, and quickly slid in when Encke opened it for him. Encke had already unstrapped himself from his harness and he caught Keeler as he dropped in, deftly pulling the smaller man into his lap. They stared at each other, nose to nose and breathing hard. In the dim light from the docking bay, Keeler could see how far Encke’s pupils had blown. He supposed he looked no better. Encke was hard in his flight suit and Keeler gave him a dirty smile as he started to grind himself against him.

Encke threw his head back against his seat. “Holy hell Keeler.” His hands, so big and warm, clamped tightly around Keeler’s ass and hauled him even closer until Keeler straddled him fully with his knees against Encke’s hips. 

“Encke.” Keeler’s sigh was soft and heartfelt, and he gasped when Encke nosed against his neck where his flight suit was partially unzipped. “Oh Encke… missed you. Too long without you, dealing with all this shit and I just need,” his breath hitched as Encke nipped his neck, pinching softly with his teeth, “this. I want this.”

Encke groaned and kissed the marks his teeth left. “Need you too, baby.” The endearment brought him up short. “Uh, you’re not cycling are you? You don’t smell like it but I’d hate to be wrong. I don’t have anything but I can go get something if we need it.”

Keeler tilted his neck farther, encouraging Encke to put his mouth back on him. “Not cycling, not a heat, don’t need anything but you,” he babbled, pushing his hands up under the top of Encke’s flight suit. He let his fingers wander over the hard, smooth flesh and spent time remapping his lover’s body by touch. Encke let Keeler get the top half of his flight suit off before tipping him back and returning the favor. He leaned Keeler further back, hands against strong shoulder blades and started scattering kisses over his torso. “You are so beautiful like this Keeler. Missed this, missed you so god damn much.” Encke slid his hands further down Keeler’s pale, slim back so that he could pull his chest closer and get his mouth on his nipples. Keeler felt the pale pink buds harden up against his lover’s tongue and had to grab Encke’s biceps in pleasure when he started gently biting at them. Keeler let Encke mouth at him until he was so sensitive he couldn’t take anymore before pulling himself back to sitting and started kissing him. He felt Encke’s hands slide lower to cup and squeeze his ass before finding the end of his braid and freeing his hair. They kissed hungrily, tasting and teasing each other after so long apart.

Encke combed his fingers gently through Keeler’s hair before gathering it up against his scalp and pulling gently. Keeler groaned at the sweet burn of it and let Encke pull his head back from their kiss. “Let me get my pants off, it’s gettin uncomfortable.” 

Keeler slid off Encke’s lap and knelt on the floor between his legs. He took his time working Encke’s flight suit down his long legs, biting and kissing as he went. Once Encke was completely naked with his cock hard up against his belly, Keeler paused. He rested his head against the inside of one muscled thigh and gazed a little bashfully up at Encke through his lashes.

Encke sensed the change in him and stroked one large hand against the side of Keeler’s face. “What is it?”

Keeler felt his face go hot but he licked his lips and soldiered on. “Tell me what you want me to do.” He turned his face farther into Encke’s leg and exposed his neck submissively. He heard Encke’s sharp intake of breath before those calloused palms were gently pulling his face towards his cock. 

“Suck me Keeler. Put that pretty mouth on me and show me how much you missed me.”

Keeler sighed happily at the command. Encke had never ordered him around before and the thrill of it all drove his libido higher. His cock jumped in his flight suit and he started to drip slick down his thighs. Encke smiled at his reaction, smelling his increased arousal and bumped his cock against Keeler’s slack lips. “Open up.” Keeler moaned softly as Encke fed his cock into his mouth. He sucked softly and lathed his tongue over the velvety head, and Encke let him have his way for a moment before he started gently thrusting in and out. Keeler let his body go lax against Encke’s legs and surrendered himself to the taste of his lover and the pleasure pain in his scalp when Encke started pulling his hair again. He carefully scraped his teeth against the base of Encke’s cock when he pushed in deep and Encke swore and pulled him off. “You do that and I am gonna come so fast.” Keeler knit his eyebrows in confusion for a moment before figuring it out. “Oh, right. Knot.”

“Yeah. ‘s more sensitive than I’m used to, but if you just… oh that’s good, just like that.” Encke sighed in pleasure as he worked Keeler’s hot mouth over him a bit more before slipping out again. “Stand up and turn around. Put your hands on the screen.”

Keeler scrambled to obey and he whined in embarrassment and arousal when Encke pulled the rest of his flight suit off and saw how damp he was. 

“Fuck, you really did slick up for me. You’ve never done that before.” Encke ran his hands up the inside of Keeler’s thighs, spreading them apart and allowing himself a good look at this new side of his lover.

Keeler bit his lip. “I couldn’t, not on the suppressants,” he whispered. Encke trailed a finger up the cleft of his ass, gathering his slick and savoring the tang of it. “You’re so sweet Keeler, taste so good. So sweet and perfect for me.” Keeler knew Encke was talking about more than just his taste and he blushed. Encke pulled Keeler’s ass towards him, and Keeler buried his face in the crook of his elbow to stifle his whimpers when Encke swiped his tongue against him. He shuddered in pleasure when Encke added his fingers, sliding two of them smoothly up inside him where he ached. Encke gently rubbed against the slick glands just inside the rim of his anus and had to hold Keeler up when he almost collapsed at the simple touch. Keeler gasped in surprise and pleasure; he’d forgotten how good it felt to be aroused without the suppressants dampening his intrinsic nature. He pushed himself back farther on Encke’s fingers and resolutely locked his knees so he wouldn’t fall.

Encke added a third finger and worked him open for another few long minutes before Keeler started wriggling in impatience. “Encke, please… enough.”

“Yeah, we’re both ready, both been waitin’ a long time for this.” Encke slid down in his seat a little and pulled Keeler backwards into his lap. Keeler sighed at the feel of Encke’s chapped lips brushing against the nape of his neck as he started working himself inside. 

“Oh,” he gasped as Encke stretched him wide over his thick cock. “Oh, oh, oh oooooh… Encke.” He slumped back against Encke’s chest as he seated himself fully, tilting his head back and staring at the closed hatch just above him with unseeing eyes. 

“Yesss,” Encke’s pleased growl rumbled through Keeler where he was pressed with his back against Encke’s chest. Keeler began to rock his hips and made an unhappy noise at finding how limited his range of motion was in that position. He leaned forward, drew his legs up one at a time to get his knees under him, braced his hands against the hatch and started riding Encke in long smooth motions. His mouth dropped open as he started to pant, the close air of the cockpit heavy in his lungs. Encke’s scent enveloped him as he started thrusting up against Keeler, their hips meeting faster and faster with little wet slaps.

When Keeler’s thighs started to shake in exertion and pleasure, Encke put one hand in the middle of his back, pushing Keeler forward and forcing him to lean against the targeting screen. Keeler folded his arms across it and buried his face in his hands. He was a little embarrassed by the noises coming out of his throat; he hadn’t known he could make such desperate, high-pitched sounds. He felt so open and wanton, and Encke made it so much worse and so much better when he reached both hands down to pull Keeler’s cheeks apart so he could watch himself slip in and out of Keeler’s slick hole. Just knowing that his lover was watching him, was seeing him for all that he was and liking it, made Keeler spasm in pleasure. “Mmmm… Encke. ‘M not gonna last.”

“Me neither, aaaaahh Keeler love you feel so good. Get back up here.” Encke wrapped both huge arms around Keeler’s torso and pulled him bodily back against him. Keeler’s head fell back against Encke’s shoulder as they started rocking together more urgently. He turned his head towards Encke and buried his nose in his neck, finding the place where his scent was strongest and licking his tongue across it. He let his self-control go, losing himself in pleasure, arousal and the scent of his Alpha.

Encke was getting close too; Keeler could feel his knot swelling against the sensitive skin of his entrance and hear his breath go ragged. He rolled his hips down, changing the angle and working himself on Encke’s cock so that it rubbed against where he needed it most. One of Encke’s hands smoothed its way down Keeler’s front from where it had been playing with a nipple and wrapped around his leaking, aching cock. Keeler arched his back and came, clenching rhythmically around Encke and crying out his release in a hoarse broken voice. He rode the waves of his orgasm out, distantly hearing Encke’s own guttural cry of pleasure as his body followed Keeler’s and began spurting inside of him. His knot expanded fully and as Keeler drifted slowly down from his climax, it was to find them sweaty, sticky and locked together sitting on the Fighter’s seat in Xanadu. 

At that moment, he couldn’t think of anywhere else he would rather be.

***

Keeler shifted carefully, sprawled more comfortably across Encke’s lap and tried to keep from pulling against the knot swollen thick inside of him. They both floated in hazy afterglow and their post-coital soft touches and kisses reaffirmed their bond better than either of them could with words. 

There would need to be words too, though. They still hadn’t talked about the future. Keeler sighed softly, feeling the knot still locking them together and relaxed back into Encke’s warm embrace. They had time now. He laced his fingers with Encke’s and rested them against his flat belly. He had a flash of what their hands would look like, curled together against his belly grown round with child. Imagining what that child would look like and the kind of life he could build with Encke gave him courage to ask the question they had both put off for so long.

“Encke, what do you want to do when we get home?” 

Encke nuzzled against the marks his teeth had left on Keeler’s neck. It wasn’t a proper mating bond, just a regular love bite, but perhaps it was also a promise of things to come. 

“Well, first we’ve got six months of service left because we’re officers and somebody’s got to clean up from this stupid war. After that, it kind of depends on where home is and what you want… whether you’ll have me. Alpha, husband or both, I am yours anyway you’ll take me…if you want that.” Keeler had never heard Encke sound so hesitant and unsure. 

“Of course I want that Encke.” Keeler’s voice was fierce. "I love you more than anything." He contorted himself so that he could get one arm around Encke’s neck and kiss him properly. It was an awkward position but he didn’t care. 

Encke smiled into their kiss. “I love you too, so much. And it’s James. James Morgan.”

Keeler pulled back to stare into his eyes. “James." He liked the way it sounded, the way it felt rolling off his tongue. "Ash Regent.”

“Ash… That’s a pretty name. For the tree?” Encke stroked the side of Keeler’s face with a gentle hand.

“Yes, my mom named all of us for trees.” Keeler was appalled to feel tears welling up in his eyes. It shouldn’t make that much difference to tell each other their names because it didn’t change who they were as people; right? Keeler felt the knot joining them slack enough for Encke to slip out of him with a little sigh and leave Keeler a big, sticky, wet mess.

Wrong. Encke and Keeler were two officers on suppressant living on the edge of a war. James and Ash were Alpha and Omega who were going to build a life together somewhere far away from the death and destruction that brought them together. There was a big difference. 

Keeler gave cleanliness up as a lost cause, settled himself more comfortably on Encke’s lap and rested his head against his heart. Encke kissed the top of his head and said thoughtfully, “Regent-Morgan has a nice ring to it.”

“James and Ash Regent-Morgan.” Keeler cuddled closer. “I like the sound of that.” 

There was a pause. 

“Did we seriously just decide to get married while we were both naked, knotted and covered in sex fluids?” That was not quite the romantic engagement story that Keeler had hoped to share with his friends and family.

“You started it.” Encke sounded amused.

Keeler grumbled. “I suppose I did.” He wiggled a bit, starting to itch. They would need to move soon or he would be stuck on Encke’s lap for other less savory reasons. “I don’t want to go back out there.”

“Me neither.” Encke sounded weary. “Posturing Alphas, rains of beer in the rec room and Selene trying to kill me; fuck, Artemis can keep it. Nothing out there can hold a candle to what I’ve got in here. Still, duty and all that shit.” 

“All that shit,” Keeler agreed. He stood reluctantly in the small space and started pulling his flight suit back on. He was gross and tacky, and there was no way to hide it. Well, the only person likely to give him a hard time about it was Puck and he could be easily distracted by the news of Keeler’s engagement. 

Keeler popped the hatch open and climbed out while Encke finished pulling his pants back on. They climbed down the access ladder and turned to stare at their ship together. He wasn’t worried about moving Xanadu; they could always launch out of bay eight if they needed to. He desperately hoped that they wouldn’t be called out to fight again. Keeler loved Xanadu but so much of their time together in it had been spent in mortal terror and death dealing. It would be nice to have this heartfelt moment be their last memory in it. 

Encke pulled Keeler to him in a breathtaking kiss, holding him tightly against his strong body. Keeler wrapped his arms around Encke’s neck and let himself melt against his Alpha for a while, savoring their last stolen moments together. They pulled apart reluctantly and started walking to the bay doors hand in hand. They had already waited so long and survived so much for their happy ending. They could wait just a little longer.

***

Puck flat out squealed when Keeler told him he and Encke were getting married. He claimed bachelor party planning rights and then went on loudly about how this was the absolute best day of his life because Keeler was engaged, he’d gotten some good incriminating photos of Phobos and Porthos coming out of a storage locker together, and obviously Galaxy Mission was the best thing ever because it had saved the day and everyone’s lives. Keeler was relieved when Oberon picked Puck up and took him away. 

He flopped exhaustedly on their common room couch. He was tired and kind of sore and he already missed Encke beyond words. Luthe and Abel came over to sit quietly beside him, both of them looking as tired as he felt. They’d all showered after the attack, but Keeler could smell that Luthe had gotten his time in the supply closet with Tor, and Abel radiated Cain’s scent. He imagined that he smelled of Encke in the same way. 

“Congratulations on your engagement.” Luthe spoke softly, and his smile was sweet and genuine.

“Thanks Luthe. I’m so excited.” Keeler looked down at his hands, happy but conflicted. “I know you’ll tell me I shouldn’t care but I’m worried that people will say I only went to war to find a husband.”

Abel shook his head in disgust. “It’s horrible that people think like that. When I get back, I am going to rub my Omega nature and my rude, lower-class, colonial, Alpha Fighter in everyone’s faces, starting with my father’s. He’s a senator; he’ll have to make some sort of statement about his only son and I can leverage whatever he says to get more press. I want to let everyone know that this war wasn’t won by privileged Beta Terrans, but by every kind of person imaginable all working together: Alpha, Beta and Omega; Terran and Colonial; homosexual and heterosexual and anything and everything between. People should know.”

Luthe nodded in agreement with Abel’s impassioned speech. “There will always be people with their heads too far up their arses to see the world as it is, but Abel is right. No matter what ignorant people may think, those of us who know the truth will say that you are a brave and fierce man who led courageously and fairly, and was never weaker or less capable for all that you are Omega.” 

“Exactly.” Abel smiled brightly at Keeler. “People can’t ignore the role that Omegas played in winning this war.”

“It was never a fair fight,” Keeler concluded. “We Omegas were fighting on more than one front; the right for the human race to exist as equals in the universe, and the right for us to exist as equal humans.”

“And we are winning both wars,” Luthe stated succinctly. 

“Yes.” Keeler smiled. “We’re winning both.”

***


End file.
